Illusions
by NY Library
Summary: Set at the end of season 2. Nothing is what it seems. Is it really this way or just Illusions?
1. Chapter 1

Set at the end of Season 2

Castle had asked Kate out to the Hampton's for Memorial Day weekend however Kate already has plans with Demming.

Kate tells Demming they need to talk before they take off for the Memorial Day weekend. Kate gently lets Demming down but he is feeling raw and rejected.

All the gang are in the breakroom saying their goodbyes to Castle for the Summer as he heads off to the Hamptons to finish his latest novel. Everyone was in a great mood chilled out for a change.

Everyone, especially Kate is shocked when Castle walks out of the precinct with Gina for the summer. a short while later Castle heads back into the precinct mumbling to Gina that he's forgotten something.

Castle sensed that Beckett had something on her mind, his 'spidey' sense was tingling and he wanted to get to the bottom of it.

Yo bro! Espo called out when he spots Castle heading back down toward the breakroom. I thought you were long gone.

I just needed I mean I forgot to check something with Beckett before I headed off for the Summer.

Cool - I think she is still in the break-room.

Thanks Espo Castle sighs as he continues his search for Kate.

Castle makes his way to the breakroom, he stops when he hears a strange moaning sound emanating from the room. That's odd is sounds like...

Castle steps into the room and comes face to face with Demming. Kate has her back to Castle and Demming... is well ahhh noisily kissing Kate up and down. Demming notices Castle's entrance and just smirks at him and keeps going - that sight is not something Castle ever wanted to see.

Castle sprints from the break room straight to the closest bathroom and throws up. He stays until he has collected his thoughts.

Meanwhile Gina is not a woman who likes to wait around so 10 minutes after Castle said he'd be right back she jumped into the drivers side of the Ferrari and took off at high speed...

Three months later...


	2. Chapter 2

Castle was surprised to see the caller ID displaying an incoming call as that of Gina, since it had been around three months since he'd stood her up at the Hamptons. The only other contact had been via e-mail or through her assistant. He wasn't sure if he could ever repair that relationship but after what he saw back at the twelfth that day he felt his whole balance shift and Gina undeservedly had become one of the casualties as a result of the fallout.

Castle reluctantly took Gina's call and after a somewhat strained thirty minute conversation, Castle had some thinking to do. For the release of Castle's latest Nikki Heat novel 'Dry Heat' Black Pawn publishing wantrd a more interesting book launch to ensure the series remained popular. The two locations on offer at this stage were Africa and Australia. Castle loved both locations and as a writer it amused him that they both started with 'A' and finished with 'a'.

...

After spending four hours being briefed by Captain Montgomery on the special three month assignment ahead of them, which was to be headed up by the (LTS) Leadership Training Section of the NYPD and run by the NSW Police Leadership team in Sydney, Australia, Beckett and Demming had started handing over their cases to their colleagues and were planning what they were going to pack as they were flying out in two days time.

Beckett, Esposito and Ryan all caught up for farewell drinks the night before Beckett and Demming were due to leave. As they normally drink at the same cop bar as most of the twelfth they bumped into Demming and invited him to join them. Lanie was able to meet up with them around ninety minutes later but the others were well on the way of being inebriated.

Beckett sat back admiring her friends and enjoying their company. The only thing missing was Castle's presence and Beckett was certain that she wasn't the only one who felt it. She hadn't heard from him since he left for the Hamptons with Gina three months ago and she wasn't about to call him although she often contemplated it.

A few rounds later and Beckett had forgotten how charming Demming could be and was really enjoying his flirting making her wonder if they might give their relationship another try especially seeing as though they were about to spend the next three months together. So whem Demming leaned in and started nuzzling and sucking her neck she suprised herself by not pulling away and enjoying knowing she was getting wet with anticipation while feeling Deeming's member hardening by the second as he pressed himself against her. She began stroking him through his jeans and he was reacting to her touch.

Meanwhile Castle had been wandering along the streets of New York that same night with no other purpose other than to think. He came across a familiar bar that he had shared a drink or two with the gang at the twelfth. Castle thought about going in on the off chance he might see Ryan or Esposito but the chance that Beckett and Demming might be there was too much for him to handle. Yep, three months later and he still wasn't over it, he whished the hell that he was over it but there you have it. As Castle passed the windows of the bar he glanced through and nearly stopped dead in his tracks when next to Lanie, Ryan and Esposito he spotted Demming nuzzling Beckett's neck. He felt proud when his first response was not to vommit but to go in and pull Demming off her. Instead he hastened his speed and headed straight home where he knew a nice bootle of scotch awaited him.

One week later...


	3. Chapter 3

Thanks for the reviews - it's much appreciated. Please trust the process and I hope you all stick in there and come on the ride with me.

Also just a reminder that as far as Kate knows Castle is still with Gina - so it's understandable that she might seek comfort from someone familiar - she is hurting...

After being in Sydney for a week Kate couldn't believe how great the Leadership course was going, it was awe inspiring to say the least and she felt very privileged to be participating in it. She had hardly seen Demming since that night at the bar before they left for Sydney and something definitely seemed up with him, she just couldn't pinpoint what exactly. Thankfully there wasn't much time to get caught up in it all as the program for the course didn't leave much room for free time. The time they did get to share together always seemed brief and Demming was getting an unusual amount of texts coming through and he seemed uncomfortable about it all.

The next day the team were due to meet at breakfast at 6:00am as they were going to do the Bondi to Coogee beach walk as a team building exercise. Kate had heard a lot about Sydney's eastern beaches and was keen to check them out. Demming had asked Kate to meet him early in the morning prior to the briefing and Kate was looking forward to catching up with him as she was determined to get to the bottom of whatever was going on with him.

As Kate prepared for bed she checked some e-mails and noticed a few from Lanie, Javi and Kevin - she decided to answer them all as she didn't know how tired she would be after the beach tomorrow. After responding to the e-mails her fingers danced across the keyboard tempting her to go to his website in search for any snippet of information of where he was and what he was doing. Finally after about twenty minutes self control took over and Kate shut down her laptop. She reminded herself that she was on a self imposed media blackout so that she didn't come across anything she wasn't ready to see about him and his perky blonde ex-wife. She still missed him though and longed to text or call as she missed the sound of his voice, but the chance that Gina would be there was just to great.

...

Castle, much to Martha and Alexis' relief had finally, after alot of internal debate, had decided to choose Australia as the location for the book launch. There were two major factors that helped in his decision making process. The first was Black Pawn was happy form him to scout the major cities for the perfect location. The second and probably the one that tipped the scales was that being on the other side of the world removed any chance of him running into Kate and Demming. This trip may just give him the time he needs to heal.

He set about packing as his flight was leaving in four hours. Part of him wanted to text Kate to let her know that he was leaving the country but he just couldn't bring himself to do it.

Castle chose Tamarama as the first location in Australia to start from and as he re-read over the specifics he felt a pang of loneliness realising that he would be going alone.

...

Kate rose early so that she could meet Demming before the briefing. The prearranged location was the Pool at Milsons Point. When Kate arrived there was no sign of Demming. She waited half and hour and then tried to call him but his mobile kept going to his voicemail.

Kate started to feel a little faint (this had been happening a lot lately) and she was also a little nervous as she had discovered last night that there was something she desperately needed to tell Demming and it really couldn't wait another day.

When Demming didn't show Kate headed back to the hotel and joined up with the rest of the team. Demming was nowhere in sight.

...

Castle had a pleasant flight from New York to Sydney via LA. So far everything had gone smoothly and he was starting to wind down and feel relaxed. Time and space had given him a little perspective and he decided that he would text Kate when he was settled in just to let her know that he was out of the country - they were meant to be friends after-all.

As soon as Castle disembarked the plane he turned his mobile on. A few notifications came through and Castle notices a text from Esposito.

What Castle didn't realise when he opened that text was that life as he knows it will be changed forever. Castle opened the text to see what his buddy had to say and as he reread for the third time just to be sure, he felt his world collapsing in and he had to rush to the bathroom as he sick to his stomach.

...

The next day...


	4. Chapter 4

Kate had a great day during the leadership challenge yesterday and fell in love with Bondi Beach. As today was a rest day, Kate decided that she would head back to Bondi Beach to soak up some of that beautiful Sydney sun. The rest of the group split up to do their own thing but not before they made plans to meet up at the Ivy later that night.

Before Kate headed out for the day she decided to catch up with one of the leaders, Joe Dawson, to see if he had any information on what was going on with Demming. All that Joe was able to confirm was that Demming had to fly back to New York early yesterday morning at short notice for personal reasons. This explained why Demming didn't show up yesterday morning to see Kate but it didn't explain why Demming wasn't answering her calls or texts. She really wanted to talk to him and felt it couldn't wait much longer.

...

Castle woke up in a strange bed with a strange thumping in his head. Once he realised that he was in his hotel room in Sydney he then tried to remember why his head hurt so much. He looked over to the table and saw the almost drained bottle of scotch. Ahh that explains the head. He was slower to recoginse the dull ache in his heart. Gradually all the fragments of yesterday started clinking in to place.

How did things become so unravelled, how did he end up here. He was missing his partner, every text, every interaction no matter how small, until it became too painful to watch her with Demming. Why couldn't Kate have seen him for who he had become instead of only seeing the person he used to pretend to be. He has not yet acknowedged to himself that any relationship from now on with Kate could only be plutonic, even after the heart wrenching text he recived from Javi.

He dragged himself out of bed and into the shower, knowing that they were going to Tamarama Beach to scout the location in about an hours time and he didn't want to give a bad impression by being late.

...

When Kate arrived at Bondi she decided that after some sunbaking, she might walk to the next beach, Tamarama, for a swim. After stretching out her towel on the crunchy hot white sand, Kate took her book out of her backpack, a well worn copy of Storm rising. Kate's heart couldn't cope with reading a Niki Heat novel right now, so Derrick Storm wold have to do. As Kate began to read her mind wandered to the author, allowing herself to think about where he was right at that moment and if he was with Gina. She pondered how different things might have been if Gina hadnt shown up at the precinct that day. Tears rolled down her face as she realised how much she missed Castle, his touch, his smile. She needed to make contact soon - this radio silence was killing her and even though he was with someone else, she still needed her partner.

...

That afternoon


End file.
